Machine for making knitted fabric



April 25. 1933. A. E. PAGE Er AL MACHINE FOR MAKING KNITTED FABRIC Filed March 15, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet l Z 3 ma Z a /0 7m@ nl 5 WE a. w www,... a a

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April 25, 1933. A E. PAGE Er AL 1,906,204

MACHINE FOR MAKING KNITTED FABRIC Filed March 13, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Tizi. Z.

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NV l 5.50 INVENTORS ALBERT E. PAGE HARRY SWINGLEHURST JR y caZZvr'ne/.i

April 25, 1933.

A. E. PAGE ETAL MACHINE FOR MAKING KNITTED FABRIC Filed March 13, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 lNvl-:NToRs -ALBERT E. PAGE HARRY SWINGLEHURST JR.

April 25, 1933. A E PAGE Er AL 1,966,204

MACHINE FOR MAKING KNITTED FABRIC Filed MEJChl 13, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 April 25, 1933. A. E, PAGE Er AL MACHINE FOR MAKING KNITTED FABRIC Filed March 13, 1931 heets-Sheet 5 Patented Apr. 25, l1933 UNITED STATES-PATENT OFFICE ALBERT E. PAG, F BBDOKLY, A ND HARRY ASWIIIIN'G'II'KEIEITUBST, JB., 0F `ZFIDIRLAI. PABX,

NEW YORK, ASSIGNOBS T0 SCOTT & WILLIAMS, INCORPORATED, 0F NEW YORK' N'. Y., CORPORATION 0F MASSACHUSETTS MACHINE FOR WING KNITTED FABRIC.

Application led latch 13, 1931. ASerial No. 522,450.

This invention relates to circular knitting machines and the method of operating same, and more particularly to circular knitting machines for making patterns in fabric by the Wrapping of extra yarn around selected needles at each point where the pattern is desired.

One obj ect of the invention is to produce a machine having complete selectivity as to the patterns which can be produced. It has heretofore been known to produce patterns by wrapping yarns around raised needles and for that purpose to cause striping yarn ngers to lay their yarns across the circle of needles and later-to cross back inside the circle again. This invention relates to im.- proved mechanism for varying the number' of needles wrapped by the warns. The invention will be shown and described in a machine containing a plurality of pattern yarn lingers pivotally mounted to lay the wrapping yarns in front of selected needles.

In the drawings- Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the head of a Scott and Williams circular knitting machine embodying the new invention, the view being taken partly in section through the middle of the machine;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of part ofthe head of the machine taken just above the latch ring on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1, showing the relationof the latch ring and the pattern yarn lingers;

Fig. -3 is a plan` view of the head of the machine taken just below the upper bedplate on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, showlng the general coordination of the mechanism controlling the selection of the needles and the se lection of the pattern yarn fingers; a

Fig. 4 vis an elevation of the'left side of the machine and part of the head, showing the levers controllingy the selection of the pattern yarn fingers and needles;

Fig. 4a is a front elevation on a reduced `scale of the mechanismV actuating the trick wheel idling plate; .l k Fig'. 5 is a development of part of the inside ofthe latch ring showing the needles and yarns and' the abutment 'in ,various relations Fig. 6 is al plan `view shown in Fig. 5;

Figs.` 7, 8 and 9 are vertical sections taken through the latch ring showing various lengths of patternA yarn fingers and* their rel lation to the maintaining cam; Fig. 7 showing the long finger, Fi 8 the medium finger and Fig. 9 the short ger;

Fig. 10 is a development similarto Fig. 5, showln the position of the yarn after the selecte needles have gotten under the abutment,'the arrow indicating the direction of movement of the needles;

Fig. 11 is a detail view inelevation of part of the lever system connecting the trick wheel to the striping yarn finger selectingl cam;

Fig.` 12 is a'detail view in plan of the plate gear forracking the trick wheel-and one end of the racking lever therefor shown 10 in Fig. 3; e v

Fig. 13 is a'plan view partly dotted in of the yarn furnishing take-ups on the bobbin A stand; and

Fig. 14 is diagram showing the relations 'nsl ofthe various kinds of yarn lingers to .the I maintaining cam.

The invention is shown embodied in the well known Scott and Williams seamless hosiery knitting machine having a revolvso ing needle cylinder 260, such for instance as shownand described inthe patent to Robert W. Scott, No. 1,152,850; dated September f 7,1915. The needle cylinder is controlled of the mechanism from a'main pattern drumhy a pattern as chain, racked ahead intermittently by a awl actuated from the driving pulley, al as shown in said Scott Patent No.` 1,152,850.

The revolvingneedle cylinder 260 contains a circular -series ofvertically movable'` inde- `9o pendentfneedles N, there being the usual sinkers with the sinker cam cap 300 and the usual knitting cams located below the throat plate 560 .in the latch lrin 550. This latch ring'is pivotally mounte ,on a post 401 at 95 .-the'back of the machine as usua1,and mounted onV this latch ring is a bracket carrying a yarn, bobbin stand 840 and themeans supporting the patternyarn ingers 766, 767, 768. The yarn bobbin stand and the vjpattern yarn iingers revolve in unison with the needle cylinder by mechanism which will be described in detail a little later in the speciiication. The yarn bobbin stand also carries the yarn take-up mechanism.

In the-example shown in the drawings the yarn fingers cross from the inside of the needle circle to the outside and thus lay the' arns in front of selectively raised needles 1 1n order that an element having circumferential movement relatively to the needles may hold the yarns temporarily against the selected needles until they are taken by the latter, the yarn fingers meanwhile continui 5 ing to revolve in unison with the needles.

In the` exam le shown in the drawings, this element having a circumferential movement relatively to the needles is a stationary abutment 870 on the latch ring 550 overlying the 5 needle circle and adapted to arrest each pattern yarn until it can be caught by the needles, and also ladapted to release that yarn when the arn finger snaps back across the needle circ e to the inside of the circle.

a It has heretofore been known to move such 50 having a plurality of butts on the upper ends of the yarn fingers and selecting the fingers by a vertically movable selector cam 750 whose movements are obtained from a trick wheel carried on the main bed-plate B of the machine. This trick Wheel also controls the vertical selection of the needles which distinguishes those to be wrapped from those which are not to be wrapped.` According to this invention, the vertically 4,0 movable selector cam 750 which operates on the upper end of the pattern yarn fingers to cause selection for wrapping purposes, moves the lower end of the pattern yarn finger outside the needle circle but can re- 5 lease it to a maintaining cam before the 'zlrn has become engaged on the needles.

e'selector cam is made short in its circumferential dimension and the finger can be maintained with the lower end outside 5 the needle circle by a maintaining cam holding it after the release by the selector cam (Fig. 14). While this maintaining cam may pbe located with and move with the selector cam or independently, we prefer to mount same in a stationary manner on the latch ring 550.

Bobbz'n stand The bobbin stand 840 is mounted on the I upper bed-plate B of the machine by means of a bracket 841 pivoted on the post 401 at the back of the machine (Figs. 1 and 2). The bracket is an open frame extending over the top of the latch ring and needle cylinder and has an extension 842 on the right side in which is mounted a connection from the vertical shaft 33 driven by the main bevel gear and drive shaft of the machine in the general manner shown in the patent to Robert W. Scott, No. 1,641 101, dated August 30, 1927. The drive shaft 33 preferably passes upward through the upper bed-plate B further from the center of the machine than when it passes through the bobbin stand frame and it therefore has a universal joint connection 843 to a vertical stub shaft. 844 in the bobbin stand frame extension A 842. The bobbin stand proper 840 is revolved on the bobbin stand frame by a gear 846 on the upper end of this stub shaft meshing with a gear ring 847 screwed to the underside of the bobbin stand. On the upper side of the bobbin stand are cups 848 containing individual bobbins 850 of pattern yarn with their transparent protective tubes 849, as shown in Fig. l. Revolving with the bobbin stand inside the bobbin stand frame is a sleeve 851, and axially located in this sleeve is a bobbin stand shaft 852 projecting vertically both above andbelow the bobbinxstand frame. Above the bobbin stand the shaft projects upward beyond the tubes around the individual yarn bobbins to a level where the.yarn take-up bracket is located. This take-up bracket 853 is fixed on the bobbin stand shaft and revolves with the bobbin stand. The yarn take-ups are of the pivoted arm type in which tension springs tend to maintain the tension on the yarn. The yarn is fed from the individual yarn bobbins to the usual tension discs 854 at the circumference of the take-up bracket, from there under a ring 855 to the long pivoted arm 856 with the yarn take-up spring 857. Thence each yarn passes downwardly in a long individual tube 858 through the yarn take-up bracket and `the bobbin stand sleeve until the yarns emerge a short distance above the latch ring 550. Near the point of emer ence of the yarn from these individual tu es and carried by the bobbin stand shaft is a slotted pattern yarn finger ring 860 revolving with the bobbin stand and in which the pattern yarn fin ers 766, 767 and 768 are carried.

For t e purpose of assisting in drawing the yarns, pattern yarn furnishing means are provided which cause the pivoted arm 856 of the yarn take-ups to draw from the bobbins 850 through the tension discs 854 enough yarn to Wrap the selected needles and kee it under the tension of the take-up spring 857 until required. This means comprises/a tail 758 on each take-up arm 856 and a yarn-furnishing cam 7 60 on a post 761 projecting upwardly7 from the bracket 841 at the rear ofy the machine opposite the throat late 560. The cam 760 lies in the path ci) the tails 758 and as the latter revolve they are pressed down under the cam and measure off into the take-up the yarn needed for the widest wrap pattern in the stocking. The` lowest point of the cam 760 is opposite the post 761 on ,which it ismo'unted and therefore opposite the post 401 and the throat gte 560 (Figs. 2 and 13). In Fi 2 the ocking .over point is indicated by t e short arrow to the left of the throat plate pointing toward the center of the machine and it will ,therefore be noted that the yarn is drawn from the bobbin and the tension discs before the stitch is drawn. Therefore the only ten- Asion in drawing the stitch is that required to A pull down the take-up. As a result the wrap yarn is fed lat high speed without puckering ofthe fabric due to extra tensionon the wrap yarns. If the pattern for anyyarnjs' not lthat required for some other linger, the

take-up will hold the surplus and simply not draw s o much yarn on the next revolution. The portion of the cam between the post 761 and the knocking over point` is an upturned end 762 to guide the tails 7 58 `under the cam when on the reverse stroke during reciproca-I tion. Thus the yarn furnishing cooperates with the varied wrap movements of the yarn fingers to produce a perfect product with varied stripes. i

- Needle selection for patterning lection by a trick wheel 800 on the lower bedplate B and jacks. lying in slots in the needle cylinder underneath the needles N. The trick Wheel may be racked once every four revolutions of the needle cylinder by lever means .driven from the so-called plate gear (Fig. 12) in a manner similar to the mechanism shown in the patent to Robert W.

Scott, No. 1,311,623, dated July 29, 1919.

These racking lever means include a racking lever 801, a toggle link 802 pivoted on the lower bed-plate B and a pawl 803 engaging"l teeth 804 at the bottom ofthe trick wheel 800 (Figs. 12 and 3). There is a 'tension spring 805 between the pawl lever andA the lower bed-plate B tending to hold the pawl in contact with the teeth on the trick wheel. The end of the spring 805 toward the trick wheel is on the bed-plate. v The pawl is ada ted to rack the trick wheel forward one toot in a counter-clockwise direction every time the pawl is retracted.

The trick wheel 800 is a vertical cylinder 65 mounted on the lower bed-plate `B near the vertical slots around its circumference in `which lie pattern jacks 810 having a series of butts at a plurality of levels which can be broken off as required to produce the necessary pattern in the well-known manner. The slots in which the jacks 810 are carried are spaced apart a distance equal to the length of one of the teeth 804 so that each rack caused by the pawl will advance the trick wheel from one pattern jack to the next. This trick wheel is adapted to carry the pattern indications for b oth the needles andthe pattern yarn fingers, the lower part of the trickwheel being adapted to take care of the needles and the upper part of thetrick wheel moving the vertical selector cam 750 forthe pattern yarn fingers. As shown in Figure 4, we use spring'bands 807 to hold the pat-v -tical pin 821 (Fig. 3 There is-a reader cam for each level o butts corresponding to the portion of theV trick wheel furnishing selections for the needles and each reader cam. furnishing selections for the needles has a nose 822 adapted to contact with butts on a cylinder jack. These cylinder jacks are adapted to be selected and raised, and in turn to raise the cylinder needles in a manner similar to that shown in the'patent to Ivan W. Grothey No. 1,678,385, on July 24, 1928. In the arrangement shown in the drawings the reading tail 823 of lthe reader cams for the cylinder jacks 736 and their associated needles are so located that when one of the butts on apattern jack 810 comes opposite the reading tail, the nose of that reader cam will notengage against the projecting butt on any of the cylinder jacks 736 but will allow those butts to pass freely.V

Thus, if it is desired to select a needle for wrapping purposes from a certain cylinder jack buttlevel, vthere should b e no butt on the trick wheel at that level. The cylinder jacks of the needles which are to be wrapped do not have butts .at that level.

To main? tain the reader cams with their noses in conv tact with the butts on the cylinder jacks and ing set aside for each desired combination during any one course or revolution of the machine. There are as many butt levels on the portion of the trick wheel for the cylinder jacks as there are butt levels on the cylinder jacks. When the cam or cams on t e plate gear are adjusted to rack the trick wheel once every four revolutions, each jack in the trick 'wheel makes it possible to select a different combination of needles for each four courses of knitting and if the cams on the plate gear 65 are set to rack the trick wheel every two revolutions, the selections of needles for wrapping may be changed every two revolutions. Further variations in pattern are obtainable by having a plurality of butts missing on the same pattern jack or jacks 810 in the trick wheel. This means that several of the reader cams are in action simultaneousl with the result that a plurality of combinations of selective needles set up on the cylinder jacks may be raised in the needle cylinder at the same time. This combining of the selections set up in the different levels of butts on the cylinder jacks may be further varied by throwing groups of reader cams out of action from the main pattern drum. To control this throwing out of action of groups of reader cams the following mechanism is provided:

Each needle reader cam 820 has an extension extending horizontally on the opposite side of the post 821 from the nose 822 and the cams are adapted to be tipped out of operative contact with the trick wheel jacks in groups by a plurality of idling levers 829. In the drawings we have shown two idling levers 829 each controlling a group of needle reader cams. The idling levers are actuated from the main pattern drum 120 by pull wires 830, 830 and pivoted bell crank levers or thrust rods 831, 831. The lower group of needle reader cams is shown controlled by the lower pull wire 830 (Fig. 4) and the outer thrust rod 831.

Pattern yam finger selecting mechanism and 825 which have no noses 822 near the cylinder jacks (Fig. 4) but the rod on which the vertically movable selecting cam 750 rests is connected to each of these reader cams in the yarn finger or yarn color group by a linkage -which includes a rock shaft A832 or rock shaft sleeve 833 located at the back of the machine and extending from the left side of the machine where the reader cams are located to the vertical rod 754 underneath the vertically movable selector cam 750 on the right side of the machine.

The connection from top finger reader cam 825 is by a long linkI 834 to a short lever 872 on the left end of the rock shaft sleeve 833 and a lever 838 from the right end of the sleeve to the lower end of the vertical pin 754. The connection from the lower finger reader cam 825 is by a long link 834 to a short link 873 on the left end of the rock shaft 832 and a lever 839 from the right end of the shaft to the lower end of the vertical pin 754. As shown in Fig. 11 there is a tension spring845 attached to the lever 838 tending to hold the vertical pin 754 in its uppermost position. The finger selector cam 7 50 therefore can be controlled from either reader cam 825 or 825 or both as desired. When the reading tail 823 of one of these cams rests on the surface of the trick wheel drum 800 the selector cam 7 50 is opposite the highest butt level of the pattern yarn fingers, when the tail 823 rests on a short i. e., low but on a trick wheel jack 810 the cam 750 is opposite the middle butt level or the pattern yarn fingers, and when the tail. 823 rests on a long i. e., high butt the selector cam is opposite the lowest of the three pattern .yarn finger butt levels. When the finger reader cams 825 and 825 are withdrawn completely from contact with the trick wheel by mechanism which is described in the next para aph, the selector cam 750 is lowered to e level of the -space below the three butt levels of the fingers and there being no butts at this level the lingers are not swung across the needle circle.

The two pattern yarn finger reader cams 825', 825 are thrown out of action by the' movements of the bell crank levers 831', 831 which throw the groups of needle reader cams out of action. To throw out the finger reader cam 825 there is a screw carried by the upper idling lever 829 which lies in line with the cam 825' and the movement of the idling lever 829 to brin its group of reader cams to idle position, tiorces" the screw 827 against the cam 825 and withdraws it from contact with the trick wheel as shown in Fig. 3. This movement also swings the lever 839 underthe vertical pin 754 to its lowermost position. The finger reader cam 825 is thrown out of operative relation with the trick wheel by means of a stop 835 on the pull wire 830. This stop takes against a depending lower end of the short lever 873 and pulls the long link 834 toward the rear ofthe machine when the bell crank lever 831 swings to the rear.

It should be noted that in this machine it is possible in changing from one yarn to another for wrapping the 'same part of the circle, to change the length of dwell of vlocs us l the yarn across the needle circle by using fingers of different lengths.

YPaal/em yam feeding mechanism The machine contains the usual latch ring with yarn fingers F therein located in the throat plate for feeding the body yarns, these yarn fingers being pivotally mounted in the usual manner to raise the yarns out of action. As already mentioned, the attern or wrap yarns are fed to the needles t rough eyes 759 in pattern yarn lingers 766, 767, 768 mounted on horizontal pivots 859 and set in slots in a pattern yarn finger ring 860 revolving with and carried under the pattern yarn bobbin stand by the sleeve 851.

The yarn fingers are held in the slots in the ring by a spring band 769 and also a separate tension spring 815 for each finger (Fig. 1). The tension springs are located just below the yarn finger ring 860 andy are fastened'to the tubes 858 andthe fin ers are adapted to swing pivotally outwar `across the needle circle.i The normal position of these fingers, in the`example shown in the drawings, is with the lowerv or feedigends of the pattern yarn fingers inside the needle circle. The yarn fingers are adapted to be swung radia ly outward across the needle circle for the purpose of feeding the yarn vto the needles by means of the above-mentioned selector cam 7 50 shown in Fig. 1, this verticall movable cam being mounted on a sleeve 51 which sleeve is vertically `movable on a stationary pin 752 depending from the stationary frame of the bobbin stand. There is a tension spring. between the sleeve 7 51 and the stationary e ending pin 752 tending to keep the vertical) reader cam 750 in its lowermost position and there is an auxiliary guide pin 756 whichpasses throu h the reader cam itself, thus preventing t e sleeve 751 from turning on the depending pin 752. There is a lug 753 projecting laterally from Athe sleeve 751 and overlying the upper end of a verticalpin 754 which brings thepattern indications from the -trick wheel. This vertical pin 7 54 is guided by a bracket 755 carried by the support for the driving mechanism of the bo in stand. There are a plurality of/posiu tions for butts 757 on the upper end of each yarn finger, thus making it possible to select as between the fingers which of them shall be moved v'radially outward, the presence of the reader cam 750 opposite a. butt 757 meaning that the lower or feeding. end of the yarn finger will be moved radially outward across the needle circle, as shown at the right side of Fig. 1.` The pattern yarn finger ring 860 revolves in unison with the needles and the relative movement of the yarn around the. needles is obtained by` means of another element.l An example of 'such element will be described next.

` consists vof a'stop or abutment fixed on the latch ring and extending across the needle circle at a distance from the main yarn feeding point and adapted to carry each pattern yarn into contact with the selected needles as the relative rotation between the needles and the knitting cams takes place. This abutment is shown as a plate 870 adjustably screwed on the top of the latch ring 550 and having a hook or inverted U end iitting over the hooks of the needles at the desired point in the circle, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, and leaving a space through which the selected needles move when taking a pattern yarn. The downwardl bent inner end or side 871 or the U on the mside of the. vneedle circle extends circumferentially foris bevelled back slightly inside the needle' circle in order to permit the yarn to slide -ofl' the abutment at the proper'time (Fig.

10). As can be seen from an examination of Fig. 8 or Fig. 9, when the yarn is laid across the circle in front of the abutment it lies across the shank of the needle from the inside of the circle to the outside of the circle just below the hooks of the selected needles. This can be seen in Figs. 5 and 6, where the yarn y is shown just after having been laid across the abutment from the pnevfious wrapping of the pattern figure p-L Fig. 6 is a typical plan view of anyof the wrapping yarns at such a time. he needles will radially engage the yarn as the pass under the hook of the abutment. v subsequent position of the yarn can be seen in Fig. 10 where the group ofY selected needles can be seen approaching the throat plate 560. The position of yarn y after For the purpose of permitting the strip1t1- or pattern yarn to enter only the selec needles and to prevent it entering needles not selected, a guard or apron 2O is mounted inside the needle circle (Fig. 2). This ard is shown as a segmental ring or apron ginning before the lmocking over point and ending at a point'after the beginning of the abutment 870 (see Figs. f2, 5 and-10). The end of the guard near the throat plate .terminates in a wire 21 connected to the latch ring. The 4upper edge'of this ring is leo formed'as a guard with certain parts high enough to hold the pattern yarn above the needles not'A specially elevated to take the lwrapping yarns. l Y

I It is desirable of course to have complete selectivity as to the needles' which are to be wrapped and certaindiiculties have i f is patterns, such as shown for instance l the widest pattern `sarily all pattern ;the cam that it was impoible to heretofore arisen on this point in machines of this type. Thus it has been noticed that in order to wrap a large group of needles, it has heretofore been necessary to make the selector cam 7 50 with a rather long contact face for the butts on the pattern yarn fingers. With such a construction a considerable space between the butts 757 on the fingers must be allowed for chan g the cam from one level to another, an during this time a number of needles are passing the cam which cannot be wrapped. It is one object of `this invention to minimize these blind spots. Assumin ,for example, that the patterns being ma e are vertical in'Fig. to make tb wrap 5, it has heretofore been customa the selector cam of suicient lengt for the saine length of time. Thus the selector cam was set to hold the fingers for intervals corresponding to, say, twenty needles. This necessitated such a long face on get as many atterns or stripes in the stocking as desired) and those stripes could not always be placed at the desired point. Thus with the long face reader cam such as would here` tofore have been' necessary to produce a stripe like the wide-clocking stripe p-l, it was necessary l before' and after the stripe that the two neighboring stri could not both be brought reasonab y near. It has been discovered that this can be avoided by dividing the-work of holding the yarn -finger out 'across the needle circle between the selector cam and a maintainin cam which holds the yarn finger outside t e needle circle after thev selector cam; has released it. The face of the selector cam is made shorter than heretofore. Thus it is possible to move the selector cam to anew level before the first selected yarn fingers are allowed to snap v*back across to the insideof the needle circle.

the dead spots and permits yarn fingers to lay yarns .across the needle circle in close juxtaposition to each other 7 in adjacent panels'or groupings.

This maintaining campreferably does not act on thev upper end of the yarn finger but is mountedA on the latch ring as shown at 763,*in the' drawings. As can be seen clearly in Figs. 1 and.2, 'this.maintaining cam 763 is screwed to the upper surface of the latch ring adjacent the abutment 870 in such a position that the yarn linger will come opposite it circumferentiall about the time that the finger reaches the a utment in its counter-Cloe se movement, and the cam as to come to an end ng over point. In its maintaining cam has an against the outside f beforel the. knoc simplest form this upstanding edge 1 and therefore necesgers would be held out` to allow so much blind space.

vin Fig. 9, yand .not engage the cam at all.

These latter yarn fingers will snap back across the needle circle as soon as it has passed beyond the selecting cam 750. The eye 769 throu h which the yarn passes may be the same istance above thelatch ring no matter what the length ofthe finger.

We have further discovered that an additional distinction can be made and the maintaining cam means adapted to act with still greater selectivity b having the maintaining cam stepped, with its tail or end lportion 765, i. e., the end nearest the knoc ing over point, lower than the end 764 which engages the linger first. Such a construction is shown in the drawings. To make use of .this step in a selective manner, the yarn lingers which are long enough to engage the maintaining cam are of varied length. The fingers 766 are lon enough to remain in contact withthe maintainin cam after they have passed the step. The intermediate length fingers 767 are of a length which will permit them to snap back across the circle when the finger passes the step and goes from the high part 7 64 to the low art 765 of the cam. The short fingers whic do not enga e the maintaining cam at all are numbere 768. In Fig. 14 is shown the relations of the upper and lower ends of the various kinds of striping yarn lingers to the selecting cam 750 and maintaining cam 763 qat various oints. In Fig. 7 is shown a lon finger 766 fore the butt on the upper en of the linger has ridden olf the selecting cam 750 and allowed the tip of the finger to fall against the maintaining cam. The linger 66 is approximately in the position of the finger shown in Fig. 6. The intermediate length of finger 767 .is shown in section in Fig. 8 after itsl release by the selecting cam but while the finger is resting against the high part 764 of the maintainingA cam. In Fig. 10 is shown in side elevation the position of an intermediate length finger 767 shortly before it reaches the end of the high surface 764 of the cam, the yarn at this point having been drawn under the hooks of the group of selected needles, but the yarn finger not yet having snapped back across to the-inside of the circle. The hoi'izontal arrow in this ligure indicates the direction of movement of the needles and striping yarn fingers. The short finger 768 needles have passed. This gives an accurate which is not long enough'to reach' the maintaining cam at all, is shown in Fi 9 and Fig. 5, it being shown in Fig. 9 be ore it is snapped -back to the inside of the needle circle and on the left in Fig. 5 after it is snapped back\across the circle. In Fig. 6 the final position of the yarn after the selected needles, n2 i. e., those below the tail 871 of the abutment and corresponding to the stripe p--2 of Fig. 5. Thus the selector cam is employed to push the fingers out to lay the yarns in front of the abutment and the maintaining cams are used to hold .the pattern yarn fingers out until all the pattern and controlled release of the, yarn fingers so that they may be snapped back to the inside of the needle circle by the spring 815 on the plate 860. It should be noted that these forms of selectivity of the invention permit yarn fingers which are feeding yarn to a small group of needles to sna back across the circle before the time or the vnext finger to come out has arrived--thus avoiding any possibilit of the yarn in the second finger being lald across the needle circle and coming into engagement with the abutment before the first yarn hasv been taken off the abutment by the snapping ofY the first yarn finger back to the lnside of the needle circle. This is of great practical advantage because it 'has been'found that if the second yarn comes into engagement with the abutment before the first yarn leaves it, the first yarn will be caught and held on' the abutment vlon er than desired and if the second group o selected needles comes up to the abutment within a sufficiently short period of time, both yarns will be Wrapped around the second group of selected needles. This feature, while a disadvantage with certain patterns, may be. turned to advantage to produce still another design by allowing the second yarn to catch the first yarn, arranging the pattern accordingly.

In the machine shown in the drawings, the ring which carries thel yarn fingers is slotted with, say, eighty slots to permit yarn fingers to be located or concentrated at any desired point vbut it is not ordinarily intendedf to use allthe -slots at once. Thus, as shown in the drawings, some of the yarn lingers are located in pairs in adjacent slots 4.widths and locations of panels indicated, for

over, is-

-enough to Amay be.

in stance, by the patterns p', p2 and p3 in Flg. 5, if it were not for this invention.

Underneath the rack wheel teeth 804 is a vpivotally mounted idling plate 812 having thereon surfaces which do not project radially beyond the rack wheel teeth and other surfaces which do project. One surface on this plate 814 projects beyond the teeth far push the pawl 803 back out of contact with all the teeth 804, thus causing the pawl to idle back and forth Without turning the rack wheel.` Another surface 813 on this plate pushes the pawl away from the rack wheel sulliciently to be out of the path of the low tooth 804 and not enough to be out of the path of the remainder of the teeth 804. that when this intermediate surface engages the pawl the trick wheel will revolve until 'the pawl reaches the low tooth. Thisl low tooth designates the beginning of the pattern of the stocking and therefore, when thc rack wheel ceases to revolve while the pawl idles over 'the low tooth, the rack wheel is ready to begin the pattern of the stocking. The high surface 814 which disengages the pawl from all the teeth 804 suspends the patterning during the heel of the stocking no matter at what point Athe patterning The mechanism operating this platemay be of' any desired kind, it being necessary merely to provide means for pivoting the plate about the center of the trick wheel sufficiently to bring these various surfaces into line'with the end of the pawl. but in the drawing we have shown the bell crank lever connection running to the disc cam 816 on the shaft 80 which lcarries the drive gear 122 for the pattern drum 120 (Fig. 4a). Such a use of this shaft is shown in the patent to E. E. Paquette, No. 1,723,881, datedv August 6th, 1929.

Operation of machine l in the stocking where itis ready to begin.

making a wrapped or embroidery stitch pattern. Up to this time the wrapping mechanism bias been idle. The pawl v803 hasbeen idling, back and forth over the low tooth 804 of the series of trickvwhel teeth 804, being held from engagement with the low tooth by the intermediate surface 813 and the idling plate 812. The reader cams 820, 825, 825 for the needle selecting and the pattern yarn finger (i. e.,'color) selecting are held disengaged from the trick wheel 800 by-means of th' thrustl rods 831 and 831 which areinl thei extreme left positions as they appear in Fig. 4. In this position the pull wire 830 Aon the thrust rod 831 turns ion 'los

the lowermost idling'lever 829 counter-clockwise and holds the cam 825 radially inward. In this position the reading tails 823 of this group of needlev selecting cams are beyond the range of the butts on the jacks 810 in the trick wheel. When in this left osition, the thrust rod 831 holds the short ink873 to the left by virtue of the stop 835, and the long link 834 connected to the short link 873 pulls the lower of the two pattern yarn finger or color selecting cams radially inward so that its reading tail 823 is also beond the range of the butts on the jacks 81() 1n the trick wheel. When the short link 873, just mentioned, is in its left position the j rock shaft holds the lever 839 in its lowermost position. VWhile the thrust rod 831 is in its extreme left position the pull wire 830 holds the upper of the two idling levers 829 in its dotted line position shown in Fig. 3 with the tails 823 of the upper group of needle reader cams held out of operative relation with the jacks on the trick wheel. This upper idling lever 829 carries the screw 827 (see Figs. 3 and 4) and when the lever 829 is swung to the position shown in Fig. 3 the screw therefore pushes radially inward the uppermost finger or color reader cam 825 to the position shown in Fig. 3. The idling lever 829 is itself actually below the extreme end of the tails of the two finger or color reader cams and, therefore, does not contact with those tails directly. The pushing of the uppermost finger or color reader cam 825' to inoperative position by the screw 827 also serves to move the long line 834 and the short lever 872 in such manner as to turn the rock shaft 833 and lower the lever 838, lthe pin 754 and the sleeve 751.

' As a result under the influence of gravity,

operative relation with the trick wheel jacks Y the pattern yarn finger selecting cam 750 drops to its lowermost position where it is opposite the gap underneath the three selecting butts on the upper 'ends of the yarn fingers. In addition to holding the parts in positions already mentioned in connection therewith the thrust rod whenv n its extreme left position also serves to\hold the lower of the two finger reader cams out of S10. This is accomplished through the stop 835, short lever 873 and long lever 8,34, Vconnecting the short link 873 with the lower of the two reader cams for the pattern selectf ling fingers.

The patterning is commenced by a rack on the main pattern drum which releases one or both vof the thrust rods 831, 831 from their extreme left position, turning the idling levers 829 to release the needle reader cams 4820 and through the stop 835 and levers 834 and 834 bymeans of the springs 824 also bringing one or both of the reader cams for the pattern selecting fingers into operative relation with the trick wheel.

. group:

This same rack also serves to turn the idlin plate 812 till no surface is op osite the paw 803 with the result that t e spring 805 brings the pawl into engagement with the low tooth'804 and the trick wheel begins to rack and bring the pattern selections of the trick wheel jacks 810 under the reading tails 823, the pattern yarn finger and needle reader cams 820. When any of the needle reader cams reaches a point on the trick Wheel where a butt is missing from one of the jacks 810 it drops againstl the surface of the trick wheel proper and its nose 822 presses radially inward against the butts of the cylinder jacks 736. This brings the cylinder jack in line with the raising cam (not shown? which raises the jack and needle to se ective level in the Well known manner.

This same rack on the trick wheel brings under the color reader cams 825, 825' a. high butt, low butt or no vbutt on jack 810, and, according to which it is, the rock shaft 832 and the rock shaft sleeve 833 raise the vertical pin 754, the sleeve 751 and the selector cam 750 to bring the latter opposite the lowermost, middle or uppermost butt level on the yarn fingers, respectively. The selection of the yarn lingers thereupon takes place in accordance with the butts on the yarn fingers 766, 767 and 768. As each yarn finger comes around to and contacts with the selector cam 750 it will assume its various ositions as shown in Fig. 14, its lower end ing pushed radially downward across the needle circle until its lower end lies radially outside both the abutment 870 and the maintaining cam 763. This lays the yarn in front of the abutment and, as the pattern yarn fingers continue to revolve in unison with the needle circle, the yarn catches against the abutment and is held there until en aged by the selected needles of its f the particular group is very small--and -is to remain small throughout the entire stocking-the yarn will be fed from one `of the short fingers 768 and when the butt on the upper end of the fin er reaches the end of the selecting cam the finger is released and snaps back across the top of the high part 764 of the maintaining cam to the inside of the circle of needles under the influence of its sprin band 769 and tension'spring 815. This wil draw the yarn back across to the inside of the needle circle behind the selected group of needles, such, for instance, as group n2 of Fig. 5, thus completing the wrapping. If the group of needles is somewhat larger, as, for instance, the group making the figure p1 shown in Fig. 5, a medium length yarn finger 767 may be used to feed the yarn. n thls case the finger will not return across the needle circle to the inside until the continued revolution of the yarn finger ring 860 brings the lower end of the yarn linger beyond the high part 7 64 of the maintaining cam 7 63 to the low part 765. The finger then snaps back over the top of the low part 765 taking the yarn with it as in the previous case. If the group of needles to be wrapped is still larger, a long finger 766 may be used in which case the finger will not snap back across the needle circle until it reaches the end of the low part 765 of the maintaining cam nearest the throat plate. The varying amount of pattern yarns required for wrapping these groups of greatly different sizes is obtained automatically from the take-ups as needed as follows: Prior to the-time that the yarn finger for any selected group of needlesreaches the knocking over point the tail 758 of its takeup arm 856 passes under the yarn measuring cam 760, raising the arm 856 and drawing the maximum amount of yarn necessary to wrap any one of the groups of needles to be selected in the pattern setup on the lower part of the trick wheel. The measuring cam having drawn this maximum amount .from

the bobbin 850 through the tension discs 854V the yarn can be delivered to the needles rapidly and under the tension solely of'the.

tension spring 857 of the take-up rapidly and without deformation of the fabric being knit. If the particular group being wrapped is not of the maximum size, the unused yarn will remain in the take-up and the correspondingly lesser amount of yarn will be drawn on the next revolution when the tail 758 of the take-up goes under the yarn measuring cam 760. When the vselection of yarn fingers is to be changed the racking of the trick wheel 800 will bring butts of different height under the reading tails 823of thefinger reading cams and the rock shaft and vertical pin 754 will bring v the selector cam 750 to a new butt level.

. ward across the needle circle only for a short period of time until they move to a position opposite the maintaining cam 763, the operative face of the selector cam 7 50 is comparatively short and it can be changed from one level to another without requiring toogreat separation of the yarn fingers in the ring 860 to permit it to make the change. It obviously is one of the advantages of the invention that a` great-many patterns can be put in the stocking of varied. width with yarn changes from course to course in the same wales without unnecessary spacing between the patterns or figures.

If desired, the patterns set up on the trick wheel can be so arranged that by alteration inoperative position of the two pattern yarn finger reading cams a sequence of selections for the pattern yarn fingers can be obtained which is double the number of jacks in the trick wheel. Similarly, if desired, two different series or sequences of selections of needles can be set up in the trick wheel totalling in number twice the number of the jacks in the trick wheel, this being obtained by using the idling levers 829 in alternation. A greater number of idling levers or pattern yarn finger reader cams can be used, if desired, to obtain still greater lengths ofy patterns.

It. will be obvious that many variations will occur to those skilled in the art, which lie within the scope of our invention.

Ve claim:

l. A knitting machine having a circle of independent needles, means for selecting needles for wrapping, pattern yarn fingers and finger selecting means adapted to cause a finger to lay a pattern yarn in front of a selected needle or needles in combination with means selecting and holding across the needle circle after said finger selecting means have released Same, certain of the fingers chosen by the linger selecting means, for the purpose of varying the length of wrap.

2. In a knitting machine having a circle of independent needles, means for selecting needles forl wrapping andpattern yarn fingers adapted to lay yarns across the needle circle for wrapping purposes in combination -with cam means adapted to maintain certain of the fingers across the needle circle after the yarns are laid across the circle, to give different lengths of dwell across the needle circle according to the number of needles to be wrapped.

3. A circular knitting'machine having independent needles, means for raising 4needles selectively, a pat-tern yarn linger, finger selecting means adapted to cause said finger to la'y a pattern yarn in front of a needle or needles raised by said needle selecting means, an element having circumferential movement relatively to the needles and adapted temporarily to hold against said raised needles the pattern yarn laid in front of them, in combination with means maintaining the yarn in front of the selected needles after release of the finger by the finger selecting means.

4. A circular knitting machine having a circle of independent needles, means for raising needles selectively, and pattern yarn fingers adapted to lay yarn across the needle circle for wrapping purposes in combination with an element having circumferential movement relatively to the needles and circle of independentl needles, means for raising needles selectively, a yarn finger adapted to lay a wrapping yarn in front of a needle or needles raised by said needle selecting means, and an element having ,circumferential movement relatively to the needles and adapted to wrap on said selected needles the pattern yarn laid in front of them, in combination with finger selecting means adapted to cause said finger to lay the pattern yarn in front of the selected needles, and other means adapted to maintain said finger in the position given it by the finger selecting means after its release by the latter.

6. A circular knitting machine having -a rotary circle of independent needles, means for selectively raising said needles and a plurality of pattern yarn fingers pivotally supported above the needles, means for rotating said fingers in unison with thencedles, in combination with finger selecting means adapted to cause the feeding ends of said fingers to lay pattern yarns in front of needles thus selected at a point on the needle circle different from the main yarn feed, and a maintaining cam adapted to act on the lower end of certain of the fingers chosen by the finger selecting means and maintaining same outside the needle circle for a longer length of travel.

' 7. A circular knitting machine having a rotary circle of independent needles, means for raising a selection of needles at a point on the needle circle different from-the main yarn feed, a main yarn feed, a plurality of pattern yarn fingers whose feeding ends are of different lengths, in combination with selecting means adapted to cause the feeding ends of said fingers to lay the yyarn across the needle circle, a stationary labutment adapted to engage the yarns thus laid across the circle and to cause them to be wrapped, and a maintaining cam adapted to hold the feeding ends of the longer of said fingers in the position given it by the selecting means after they have reached said abutment.

8. A circular knitting machine having a revolving needle cylinder, independent needles in said cylinder, a main yarn finger and a plurality of pattern yarn fingers pivotally mounted above said cylinder, revolving in unison therewith and adapted to vibrate across said circle of needles for the purpose of laying wrapping yarns across said circle,

means adapted to raise needles selectively to t engage said pattern yarns, an apron adapted to prevent yarns from said pattern fingers coming into engagement with needles not selected, means selecting yarn fingers to lay across the circle, some of said yarn fingers being longer than others, in combination with a stationary maintaining cam located at a point on the needle circle different from that of the main yarn finger, adapted to act selectively on said yarn ngers to vary the length of time that said yarn fingers remain across the needle circle.

9. A circular knitting machine having a revolving needle cylinder, independent needles vertically movable in said cylinder, means for raising said needles selectively for pattern purposes, pattern yarn fingers adapted to lay yarns across the needle circle by movement from the inside to the outside thereof, said yarn fingers rotating with said needles, a stationary abutment adapted to lie in the path of and arrest the pattern yarns thus laid across the circle, in ucombination with a stationary cam located adjacent the said abutment adapted to hold outside the needle circle for a definite period of time, fingers which have laid yarn across the needle circle. y

10. A circular knitting machine having a circle of independent needles, means for raising the needles selectively, radially movable yarn fingers for laying a pattern yarn in front of the needle or needles thus raised, said yarn fingers being of different length, in combination with an element having circumferential movement relatively to the needles and adapted temporarily to hold against said raised needles a pattern yarn laid in front of the'latter, and a stationary cam having circumferential movement relatively to the needles, having high and low p'oints adapted to cooperate with the fingers of different lengths to vary the lengths of time that the yarn fingers are held across the needle circle.

11. Ina knitting machine having a circle of independent needles, means for raising needles selectively, pattern yarn fingers of different length at their yarn feeding ends l adapted to lay yarns across the needle circle for wrapping purposes and selecting butts at various levels on said fingers, in combination with a selector cam for said butts adapted to change butt levels between selections of the fingers, and means adjacent the needle circle adapted to maintain only the longer fingers across the circle after their release by the selector cam.

12. In a circular knitting machine having a revolving circle of independent needles, means for raising needles selectively, yarn fingers of different length adapted to lay Wrapping yarns across the needle circle, and a vertically movable selector cam for said ngers, in combination with a cam outside the needle circle adapted to engage certain of said fingers and maintain them across the circle for varied lengths of travel after their release by said selector cam.

13. In a circular knitting machine with selective needle wrapping means and needle selecting means governing the needles to be wrapped, the combination of a pattern drum with peripheral patterning steps and governing means at the respective steps for selecting the needles to be wrapped, wrapping fingers, additional means at the respective steps for selecting the fingers to be wrapped and 'means having movement relatively to the fingers for `varying the wrapping effect of the ngers.

14. A circular knitting machine having a rotary circle of independent needles,

.means for raising a selection of needles at a point on the needle circle different from the main yarn eed, la plurality of pattern yarn lingers whose feedingends are of dif- .ferent lengths, andmeans tending to hold the feeding ends of said ngers in non-laying position, in combination with selecting means adapted to cause the feeding ends of selected lingers to lay yarns across the needle circle, and a maintaining cam having high and low points adapted to operate selectively on certain of the ngers chosen by the selecting means to give different lengths of dwell across the needle circle according to the number of needles to be wrapped.

15. In a knitting machine having a circle of independent needles, means for raising needles selectively, pattern yarn fingers adapted to lay yarns across the needle circle for wrapping purposes and selecting butts s at various levels on said ngers, the yarn feeding ends of such ngers being of differentlengths, in combination with a selector cam for said butts adapted to change butt levels between selections of lingers, and means adjacent the needle circle adapted to select fingers according to the length of their` yarn fee ing ends and maintain them across the circle after their release by the selector cam.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this ecification.

ALBER E. PAGE.

HARRY SWINGLEHURST, JR. 

